Three Bay Area locations rank as ideal retirement spots — at a price

Belvedere Tiburon: ranked 14th best place to retire in the land (if money is no object)

Are you thinking about where you might like to live when you retire? If so, you may not have to move far. According to a new survey by NeighborhoodScout, three of the country’ top 20 retirement dream areas are local to the Bay Area.

One salient fact worth noting, however: these are “money no object” rankings. So you won’t be entirely surprised to learn that those three idyllic retirement locations are Menlo Park (ranked 13th), Belvedere Tiburon (ranked 14th) and Saint Helena in Napa (ranked 15th).

To give some perspective, the average list price of homes in these three spots is currently $1,495,000, $1,172,500 and $1,298,000 respectively, according to Redfin data.

Nevertheless, the people behind the research, published on WalletPop, say they were surprised to find a few of the best locales for retiring were “amazingly affordable”. The top five retirement areas are Towson, Md, Ambler, Pa, Santa Barbara, Ca, Sedona, Ariz and Canton, Ohio.

All 20 areas have in common an overall combination of “housing options, beautiful surroundings, a vibrant mix of educated seniors and other age groups, very low crime, peace and quiet, and amenities for every taste”.

The survey recommends specific neighborhoods within the areas cited where retirees are most likely to have “a wonderful experience”.